Provide a site-wide brainstorm/feature request portal
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Problem to solve
Currently the only way to track ideas for projects are to make a README style page, use the Issues tracker for a project/group with custom "idea" or "brainstorm" labels, snippets which are primarily used and focused more on code snippets, or use some other service with chat/followup capabilities. There is no way to do any of this without creating a project or group in gitlab first, implying that the idea and working name/title exists in the first place, or not use gitlab at all for this phase.
Intended users
ALL?/Unknown
Further details
If a company or individual has a series of projects or services on their gitlab server issues must be submitted to a specific project to submit ideas or another framework must be implemented to provide that suggestion capability to their customers and users. Currently the snippets feature allows users and visitors to see and submit (depending on permissions) snippets that have been posted along with a conversation (comments) to take place however this is mostly focused on code only. There is no built in way to create a flowchart, diagram, drawing, etc... unless using some other software and attaching it later. Snippets also do not currently provide any way (that I am aware of) to roll that snippet into a foundation for a new project, like an issue can be for a branch or merge request.
Proposal
Take the Snippets feature which allows for users/visitors (authenticated or not depending on server restrictions) and use it as a framework for a brainstorm/'feature request' portal that would be separate from or attached to a specific project or group. The key difference between this new portal and the current snippets would be the possibility for authorized users (reviewers, developers, maintainers, admins) to "start a new project" from the brainstorm session or feature request. A good feature of this portal would be the merging of multiple feature requests or brainstorms under one new project or group. This feature would operate differently than issues in the sense that feature requests and brainstorms are typically not related to a specific project and if they are they typically don't have any implied suspense dates/times associated with them. Feature requests can be marked as accepted or rejected and a subsequent issue/project can be created to allow for branch creation or code changes. This feature should also be capable of sending notifications and triggering other web-hooks based on the needs of the customer.
Permissions and Security
Permissions would operate much the same way that they do with snippets and issues. Ideally it would be a merge between the two since snippets can exist separate from any project/group but issues can trigger branch/merge request creation within a project. Admins and project maintainers can permit read and write accesses to the various user levels depending on their needs and which portal level (site,group,project).
Documentation
None at this time
Testing
This would change the database structure as well as potentially requiring a new variable character (like # for issues or ! for merges). Required tests and platforms will depend on what capabilities are added (drawing in a canvas for brainstorms, flowcharts, etc... or creating a new project or issue from a brainstorm or feature request)
What does success look like, and how can we measure that?
Success would be defined by and depend on the gitlab customers' implementations.
What is the type of buyer?
I believe this would be beneficial to owners and users of all tiers